Free Language Partners: University of Michigan Language Resource Center’s language partner program is open to the general public. http://webservices.itcs.umich.edu/drupal/LRC%20C onversation%20Partners/ Step 1: Follow a blue link on the page to create a friend account
What is Authentic Material?
E.V.L INTERNATIONAL CONSULTINGS LTD (IRE)
Where Can I Find it? Any English environment (e.g. website, resource, setting) that is NOT artificially designed for English learners
Step 2: Click “Find a Language Partner” to browse the list of people and their information (email, language offered, language desired)
Resources for
A few private websites:
English Learning http://www.language-exchanges.org/
Teach yourself
Try to get 2 or more partners and expect some of them to be much less enthusiastic than you are.
with materials YOU like and at YOUR difficulty level
An Example Using Authentic Material A little Business English for everyone J
C om p a n y N a m e • Songs, movies, TV shows/series (be very careful while selecting!)
How to Present Effectively (and with less boring PowerPoint slides)? Try to find recorded material to replay/repeat! Watch this clip on Youtube about the book “The Presentation Secrets of Steve Jobs” by C. Gallo: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k-zMRPZpvcw
Ask yourself: “What do I find interesting?” Having fun helps your learning effective!
evl.consultings@googlemail.com copyright (c) 2011
How to Select/Use Authentic Materials? Avoid anything that confuses you. Chances are that it’s just as confusing to native speakers. Always choose a material that you can understand 70-90% (depending on your personality) and learn from the rest (10-30%). Listening, Understanding & Speaking
(a) Avoid learning from children and their cute voices, or people who do not speak clearly. (b) Find videos/movies/shows/series with rich body language and/or facial expression to help you understand the context. (c) Start from listening to the normal speed – avoid too slow on purpose or too fast for you (e.g. TV series “Friends”). Speed up as you improve. (d) Watch the lips & tongues. (I recommend watching Angelina Jolie’s lips.) (e) Listen to different people saying the same (or similar) words/sentences to help you grasp pronunciation accurately. (f) Materials that allow you to listen, read, and/or watch at the same time can be very effective! (g) Listen to the rhythm & logic of English as you would for music, but only from nativespeakers with clear pronunciation first. (This will reduce grammar errors in speaking)
(h) Watch the English version of videos/movies/episodes that you already saw many times in your own language.
Free Learning Tools: • Online English-English dictionaries with pronunciation audio clips
Reading & Writing (a) Skim through news headlines and then the 1st paragraph, only if the article interests you. (News articles are meant for busy people who can only read the beginning of each story.)
• Online Thesaurus (find synonyms & antonyms of any word)
(b) News can help you build a large vocabulary. Most American news stories are at the level of a 12-yr-old American child – great for beginner/intermediate English students! (c) News articles & song lyrics must not be & are not 100% grammatically correct!
Language Learning Websites:
(d) News articles are reports, NOT persuasive writings. A news article answers the 5 S’s: Who, Where, What, When, How, but “Why” is optional. (e) Examples of persuasive writing are advertisements & essays. A persuasive writing provides evidence and wants to change your mind on a certain topic. English essays follow a well-organized structure. Please search keywords “essay structure” to find out online. (f) Writings are effective if others can easily understand your message. So write in simple grammar structure & vocabulary.
Free E-Books: